


Walking in a Winter Wonderland

by ellebeedarling



Series: Christmas 2017 [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Christmas With Family, F/M, Fluff, Gift Fic, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 07:56:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13003269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellebeedarling/pseuds/ellebeedarling
Summary: Dealing with family at Christmas can be difficult, but snowball fights fix everything.





	Walking in a Winter Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Estalfaed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estalfaed/gifts).



> Christmas gift for my dear friend Estalfaed! 
> 
> Just wanted to remind you how much your friendship has come to mean to me. You've been there to listen to me whine when things have been rough, and you've cheered me up, made me laugh, and just been generally supportive and encouraging. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate that! 
> 
> And yes, I did realize the irony of choosing the snowball fight fic for you. lol... Sorry! Maybe this will help you think of snow differently! :P
> 
> Merry Christmas love! I hope you enjoy this silly little thing! :)

When Kaidan had told his parents that he would be bringing not only a girlfriend but also a boyfriend home to meet them, he’d seen the shock written clearly on their faces even in the hologram. The first meeting had gone rather well, all things considered. In the end, they had decided that both Shepard and Ashley made their son happy, and that was all that really mattered. 

 

When John had told Rear Admiral Shepard that he was in a polyamorous relationship, she’d laughed and shaken her head. “Why am I not surprised?” she’d asked, and John had spent the rest of the afternoon moping and rubbing the back of his neck. Kaidan wasn’t sure why exactly that it bothered him so much. 

 

“She’s not accepting of us,” John had finally confessed. “She’s just adding it to the list of things about me she considers deviant.” 

 

That hadn’t set well with either Kaidan or Ashley, and when they’d finally had the chance to meet Hannah Shepard, they’d told her so. Seeing their stubborn determination on the subject, she’d laughed and welcomed them both to the family, telling John that he’d done well in winning both their hearts. 

 

Mrs. Williams had been a harder sell, and after many awkward family dinners that ended in screaming matches between mother and daughter - including one where John had to physically remove Ashley from the room - the Williams sisters finally banded together around the trio until their mother relented. A tenuous truce was established, tho Mrs. Williams continued to get her jabs in whenever she could. It certainly made for interesting visits, though both John and Kaidan were quick to remind her that they were all lucky to still have family living after the war. So many others were not as fortunate. 

 

It was then that Kaidan and Ashley always seemed to recall exactly how close they’d come to losing  _ John _ to the reapers. Those nights always ended with the three of them whiling away the hours as they showed each other just how grateful they all were to have come out the other side. 

 

With the threat of the holidays looming large in front of them and the logistics of trying to spend time with not one, but three families, Mrs. Alenko had come to them with what, in her mind, she deemed a “brilliant plan.” The revelation of said plan had earned a groan from Kaidan, a murmured suggestion from Ash that Mrs. A needed her head examined, and a rousing, “ _ Fuck _ no!” from John. 

 

In the end, though, there was no denying Mrs. Alenko anything. Having dealt with military men her entire life, even the Great Commander Shepard, himself, couldn’t dissuade her from what the trio were convinced was a foolhardy plan. 

 

All of them - the Alenkos, Williams’, Shepards, and the triumvirate that contained a portion of all three families - together under one roof for the holidays. 

 

The journey to British Columbia began with much trepidation on the part of the threesome who’d stood together against the greatest threat mankind had ever endured. However, bravery on the field of battle was no match for facing down the mothers of three such stubborn people. 

 

Mr. Alenko seemed to find the whole situation quite hilarious as he watched his son, along with the Savior of the Galaxy, squirm under the scrutiny of their three mothers. Hannah Shepard seemed almost as aloof as her son at times, while Kaidan’s and Ashley’s mothers fretted over the lot of them. 

 

There was a gleam in Hannah’s eyes as she watched John becoming more and more agitated as the minutes ticked by, and they’d barely done more than shed their coats at that point. 

 

“How about some hot apple cider?” Mrs. A suggested. 

 

“Can you spike mine with a little rum?” John asked and flashed the smile that seemed to always get him whatever he wanted. Ash elbowed him in the side, and he turned to murmur in her ear. “If I share will you stop gouging me?” 

 

“Yes,” she conceded, threading her arm around his and leaning her head on his shoulder. Kaidan rolled his eyes at the pair of them, but didn’t complain when he received his cider and realized it contained a hefty dose of spirits as well. 

 

After a couple rounds of the cider, everyone seemed to relax considerably. Kaidan would have to remember to buy his mother something nice. 

 

**

 

Three days cooped up in the same house and one shouting match between Ash and her mother later and they were all feeling the effects of familial closeness. Kaidan suggested to his lovers that they take a stroll through the orchard. Ash and John were all too eager to agree. 

 

The trees were barren, given the time of year, but the crisp air and the blanket of white lifted their spirits and whisked away some of the tension that they’d been carrying. Kaidan suspected that if they could spend a little quality time, alone time - as in the sex they were all afraid to have for fear of being overheard and strengthening Mrs. W’s dislike of the whole arrangement - it would do wonders for their moods. John was becoming sullen and Ash snippish, both of their default reactions to stressful situations. At least John hadn’t completely lost his temper - yet. 

 

In lieu of a private place where he could take care of his lovers like he wanted, he settled for dragging them out into the cold air and sunshine. The tip of John’s nose was red and his breath puffed out in a white cloud in front of him as they stalked through the foot of snow amongst the trees. Ash was wearing a muffler that concealed all but her eyes, but the earthy brown carried a spark of excitement that Kaidan was pleased to see. John’s sapphire eyes held a mirroring brightness, and Kaidan was relieved that they both seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

 

“I could live here,” Ash commented breathlessly as they stood near the edge of the orchard overlooking the mountains and valleys in the distance. 

 

“Yeah?” Kaidan asked, wrapping his arms around her from behind. She was so wrapped up in fabric he couldn’t hope to find a spot to kiss her, so he settled for nuzzling against her scarf covered cheek. 

 

“Yeah,” she affirmed, pulling his arms more tightly around her. “It’s beautiful.” 

 

“There’s some property for sale not too far away,” Kaidan said, trying to sound casual. Truth was, he’d had his eye on it for quite some time, but wasn’t sure exactly how to broach the subject with Ash and John. 

 

Now that the war was won, and their lives and the galaxy somewhat put back together, he’d been wondering more and more if the three of them couldn’t settle down somewhere, get married, maybe have a kid or two - and a dog. His parents were aging, and as he was their only child, he wanted to be nearby. Ash had other sisters who could help with Mrs. W, and Hannah Shepard seemed to have no interest in ever retiring. If it hadn’t been for the severity of John’s injuries in the final battle of the war, Kaidan doubted he would have been ready to hang things up either. 

 

Ash seemed to sense where his thoughts had gone and turned her head to catch his eye. “You’d really want to move out here?” 

 

Kaidan shrugged, trying for nonchalant. The look in Ash’s eyes told him that she saw right through him though. 

 

“You’ve been thinking about it for awhile, then?” 

 

“Uh… yeah,” he admitted, somewhat sheepish. 

 

“Idiot,” she muttered with a fond smile. “Why didn’t you just tell us?”

 

He didn’t really have an answer for that, so instead of saying anything, he squeezed her tighter and began to wonder where John had wandered off to. His answer came seconds later when he felt a cold, wet  _ thwump _ against the back of his head. Kaidan cursed while John howled with laughter, sneaking from tree to tree until he could hit Ash in the side of the face with another snowball. 

 

“Oh it is  _ ON _ ,” Ash hollered, bending to scoop a glob of snow and sending it sailing only half formed. The snowball disintegrated before it reached John, and he stuck his tongue out at them as he darted around another tree and fired another shot. 

 

It hit Ash at center mass, and she squealed as some of the icy powder managed to work its way through her multiple layers to connect with warm skin.

 

“Shit that’s  _ cold! _ ” 

 

“Need me to defend your honor?” Kaidan asked, already working on his own little pile of ammunition.   
  


“Bring it, Alenko,” John shouted at the same instant that Ash yelled, “As _ if! _ ”

 

“I’m taking that asshole down,” she said with a hint of the determination she always used just before charging into battle. 

 

Kaidan kept John distracted, firing snowballs at him and laughing while his lover gloated over missed shots. Occasionally he landed one and relished John’s howl as the snow melted into his clothing. Shepard was having a field day with jokes about how Kaidan needed to come warm him up, including some rather crass ones about the state of his balls when Ash made her move. 

 

Creeping up behind him, she launched herself, jumping on his back and clinging like a monkey. John roared as she dumped an armload of snow down the back of his shirt, then fell to the ground with a strangled sounding half-laugh half-yowl. He rolled over, trying to gain some ground as Ashley began undoing his coat and shirt to apply the snow directly to his skin. The end result was him begging for mercy between peals of laughter and cries for Kaidan to save him. 

 

It quickly devolved into a wrestling match, the pair of them rolling through the snow and laughing as they shoved the icy wetness into each others faces. Kaidan joined the fray, laughing and spluttering when he wound up with a mouth full of snow. 

 

Eventually, the three of them sprawled out on the ground, heaving chests, rosey cheeks, and sparkling eyes. Ash was between her two favorite men and gripped both their hands, holding tightly as they all calmed down and continued giggling periodically. “Kaidan wants to move here,” she blurted after a few minutes. 

 

“What,  _ here _ ?” John asked, skeptically.

 

“Not  _ here _ here… nearby… some property that’s for sale.” 

 

John sat up and looked at Kaidan, “Why haven’t you said anything?” 

 

Kaidan shrugged again, no more prepared to answer John that he was Ash. He sat up and leaned back on his outstretched arms, gaze taking in the view around them. “It’s always felt like home,” he said softly, “more so than Vancouver ever did. We could keep the apartment on the Citadel, I’d just… It’d be nice to have somewhere to… put down some roots, you know?” 

 

“You mean kids?” Ash asked, eyes a little wild as the reality of what he was saying began to sink in. 

 

“Maybe one day… I wouldn’t mind is all I’m saying.” 

 

“K…” John sighed. “You haven’t said one word up until now. Why is that? Are you unhappy?” 

 

“No,” Kaidan said quickly. “No, I’m very happy, I just… I’ve just been thinking about what I want out of life, and… I think I’d like to have a nice big place out in the country, maybe a couple kids… a dog or three.” He grinned at Ash as she rolled her eyes. “And the both of you,” he nearly whispered. “Always you two. Nothing else matters as much as that.”

 

John crawled over to the man, ignoring his cold, wet jeans, and straddled Kaidan’s thighs. Gripping Kaidan’s face with icy fingers, he brought their lips together, firm and almost harsh. “I just want to be with you,” he whispered when he pulled away. “I don’t care if that’s on a farm in Canada or on a warship in the middle of a war. As long as we’re all together, I’m happy.” 

 

“Same,” Ash said, worming her way into Kaidan’s lap in front of John. Shepard laughed and unwound her scarf so he could kiss her cheek. Ash leaned forward and stole a kiss from Kaidan as John wrapped his arms around both of them as best he could. 

 

Kaidan smiled up at his lovers, wondering how in the hell he’d gotten so lucky. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [ellebeedarling](https://ellebeedarling.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Happy Holidays!  
> Elle


End file.
